Grays Almanac

Home/Episodes/The American President

‘The American President’ With Bill Simmons, Amanda Dobbins, and Van Lathan

November 3, 2020 · The American President (1995) · Comedy · Drama · Romance · 1:30:12

IMDb ↗Letterboxd ↗

Categories

Most Rewatchable Scene

Amanda Dobbins▶ 33:04Provides commentary and agrees with the scenes mentioned, noting details like the real White House number being used and Douglas doing his own dancing
Bill Simmons▶ 30:16Multiple scenes: the lonely widower moment, President and Martin Sheen playing pool, President calls Sydney for a date, the dance scene, morning after they sleep together, and Michael J. Fox challenging the president
Van Lathan▶ 36:46Agrees with most scenes mentioned, particularly emphasizes the Michael J. Fox challenging the president scene as 'one of my favorite movie scenes of all time' and discusses how it inspired a college essay

What's Aged the Best

Amanda Dobbins▶ 49:49The media frenzy montage showing tabloid coverage of Sidney Ellen Wade - depicting how someone gets caught in media sensation, which accurately reflects current reality
Bill Simmons▶ 47:28The connection to The West Wing as a prologue, the Libyan janitor speech, the dating montage, and the quote 'How do you have patience for people who say they love America but can't stand Americans?'

What's Aged the Worst

Bill Simmons▶ 50:17When the romance starts, the newspapers chronicling it with USA Today on their front page - now it would just be Daily Mail and Twitter
Van Lathan▶ 50:43The portrayal of presidential dating as mildly controversial - in today's age it would be complete obsession and a shit show

Casting What-Ifs

Amanda Dobbins▶ 53:42Robert Redford — Agrees Robert Redford wouldn't work as the president - too cool for the goofy/sentimental stuff and the premise would be fundamentally different
Bill Simmons▶ 56:17Michelle Pfeiffer — Michelle Pfeiffer for the Annette Bening role - says she's his favorite and could have pulled off the part really nicely
Van Lathan▶ 56:40Michelle Pfeiffer — Michelle Pfeiffer and Meg Ryan for the Annette Bening role, though notes Meg Ryan would be 'too on the nose' and too rom-com associated

Joey Pants Award

Amanda Dobbins▶ 58:47Samantha Mathis — Initially suggested Samantha Mathis, then mentioned Wendy Malick as another possibility
Bill Simmons▶ 58:20Gail Strickland — Gail Strickland (Martin Sheen's wife in the movie)

Dion Waiters Award

Bill Simmons▶ 1:00:17Richard Dreyfuss — Richard Dreyfuss for his talk show scenes
Van Lathan▶ 1:00:54Richard Dreyfuss — Richard Dreyfuss - 'It's his to lose'

Half-Assed Internet Research

Amanda Dobbins▶ 1:08:28The bedrooms in American President and West Wing are exactly the same, but the bedrooms in Dave and American President are different
Bill Simmons▶ 1:06:04Aaron Sorkin wrote the screenplay while high on crack cocaine at the Four Seasons Hotel in LA, producing a 385-page script while also developing Sports Night; White House set was built for this movie with conflicting reports about whether it was reused from Dave or later used for Nixon/Independence Day; Spin City was created after someone saw this movie; Michael J. Fox hid his Parkinson's during casting by putting his shaky hand in his pocket; Rob Reiner followed Bill Clinton around the White House for two days for research

Apex Mountain

Amanda Dobbins▶ 1:12:21Rob Reiner — Corrects that Sorkin won Oscar for Social Network so this is definitely not his apex. Says this is definitely the last case for Rob Reiner at the center.
Bill Simmons▶ 1:09:35Rob Reiner — No for Michael Douglas, Annette Bening, Michael J. Fox, Martin Sheen, Aaron Sorkin. Yes for USA Today and President movies as a genre. Possibly Rob Reiner but still thinks A Few Good Men is his apex.
Van Lathan▶ 1:10:05The Social Network — Suggests Social Network might be Aaron Sorkin's apex mountain, agrees USA Today had its peak, discusses president movies trend

Picking Nits

Amanda Dobbins▶ 1:16:26The movie awkwardly handles sex (Annette Bening testing mattresses) and avoids examining the problematic power dynamics of President having sex with a lobbyist in the Oval Office; agrees about unrealistic White House security
Bill Simmons▶ 1:15:42President being celibate for 3+ years after wife's death is unrealistic for politicians; Annette Bening too old to have a roommate; Sydney waltzes into White House unannounced multiple times; daughter doesn't show realistic side-eye toward new girlfriend
Van Lathan▶ 1:18:48Sydney being able to just show up at the White House unannounced is unrealistic - Secret Service would never allow someone to waltz into the Oval Office without proper security checks

Probably Unanswerable Questions

Amanda Dobbins▶ 1:21:35Uncertain about Shepard's election chances - the speech has power but he went super liberal with gun control and environmental legislation, plus the lobbyist conflict, making it up in the air
Bill Simmons▶ 1:22:47President Shepard wins the 1996 election in a landslide, comparing to Clinton's situation - good economy, post-Cold War era, and scandals don't matter when things are going well
Van Lathan▶ 1:22:28It's very possible President Shepard lost the 1996 election because he's got a lot going on in an election year, though his show of force could also galvanize voters

Who Won the Movie

Amanda Dobbins▶ 1:26:01Michael Douglas — Michael Douglas - states the movie doesn't work without him, it's a winning and charming performance, and he delivers the final speech effectively
Bill Simmons▶ 1:27:22Aaron Sorkin — Aaron Sorkin - argues this movie paved the way for Sports Night, West Wing, and Social Network, cementing him as a star screenwriter where 'written by' becomes a draw
Van Lathan▶ 1:26:39Annette Bening — Annette Bening (Sidney) - argues it's really her fairy tale and her story, she's the one who comes into town and the whole deal is really her thing

Movies Referenced (35)

A Few Good Men (1992)

6 mentions · Bill Simmons, Amanda Dobbins, Van Lathan▶ 1:12:09IMDb ↗Lb ↗

Basic Instinct (1992)

4 mentions · Van Lathan, Bill Simmons▶ 9:44IMDb ↗Lb ↗

Deep Impact (1998)

4 mentions · Van Lathan, Bill Simmons▶ 8:10IMDb ↗Lb ↗

The Game (1997)

4 mentions · Bill Simmons▶ 9:36IMDb ↗Lb ↗

American Beauty (1999)

3 mentions · Bill Simmons▶ 14:03IMDb ↗Lb ↗

Broken Arrow (1996)

3 mentions · Bill Simmons, Van Lathan▶ 22:46IMDb ↗Lb ↗

Fatal Attraction (1987)

3 mentions · Bill Simmons, Van Lathan, Amanda Dobbins▶ 9:42IMDb ↗Lb ↗

Independence Day (1996)

3 mentions · Bill Simmons, Amanda Dobbins▶ 8:58IMDb ↗Lb ↗

Wall Street (1987)

3 mentions · Bill Simmons, Amanda Dobbins▶ 9:42IMDb ↗Lb ↗

Dangerous Minds (1995)

2 mentions · Bill Simmons▶ 56:26IMDb ↗Lb ↗

Fargo (1996)

2 mentions · Bill Simmons▶ 1:04:32IMDb ↗Lb ↗

White House Down (2013)

2 mentions · Bill Simmons, Van Lathan▶ 24:58IMDb ↗Lb ↗

Directors Referenced (6)

Rob Reiner

12 mentions · Bill Simmons, Van Lathan, Amanda Dobbins · Known for This Is Spinal Tap, The Wolf of Wall Street▶ 2:07IMDb ↗Lb ↗

Frank Capra

3 mentions · Van Lathan · Known for It's a Wonderful Life, It Happened One Night▶ 11:25IMDb ↗Lb ↗

John Colorado

3 mentions · Bill Simmons · Known for Hancock▶ 0:40IMDb ↗Lb ↗

Jacob Hair

1 mentions · Bill Simmons▶ 1:29:38IMDb ↗Lb ↗

Oliver Stone

1 mentions · Van Lathan · Known for Born on the Fourth of July, Platoon, JFK▶ 21:03IMDb ↗Lb ↗

Warren Beatty

1 mentions · Bill Simmons · Known for Heaven Can Wait▶ 13:51IMDb ↗Lb ↗

Actors Referenced (50)

Michael Douglas

25 mentions · Bill Simmons, Amanda Dobbins, Van Lathan · Known for Wall Street, Romancing the Stone▶ 1:57IMDb ↗Lb ↗

Michael J. Fox

19 mentions · Bill Simmons, Van Lathan · Known for Back to the Future, Back to the Future Part II▶ 18:00IMDb ↗Lb ↗

Martin Sheen

16 mentions · Bill Simmons, Amanda Dobbins, Van Lathan · Known for The Departed▶ 18:00IMDb ↗Lb ↗

Robert Redford

15 mentions · Bill Simmons, Amanda Dobbins, Van Lathan · Known for The Natural, Ordinary People, Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid▶ 52:34IMDb ↗Lb ↗

Annette Bening

14 mentions · Bill Simmons, Van Lathan, Amanda Dobbins · Known for American Beauty, 20th Century Women▶ 2:03IMDb ↗Lb ↗

Richard Dreyfuss

13 mentions · Bill Simmons, Van Lathan · Known for The Goodbye Girl, Close Encounters of the Third Kind, Mr. Holland's Opus▶ 13:58IMDb ↗Lb ↗

Sharon Stone

10 mentions · Van Lathan, Bill Simmons, Amanda Dobbins · Known for Basic Instinct, Casino, The Quick and the Dead▶ 14:24IMDb ↗Lb ↗

Bob Dole

9 mentions · Bill Simmons▶ 20:10IMDb ↗Lb ↗

Dennis Haysbert

7 mentions · Bill Simmons, Van Lathan · Known for Far from Heaven▶ 7:53IMDb ↗Lb ↗

John Mahoney

6 mentions · Bill Simmons, Amanda Dobbins · Known for Moonstruck, Barton Fink▶ 18:00IMDb ↗Lb ↗

River Phoenix

6 mentions · Bill Simmons, Van Lathan · Known for My Own Private Idaho, Stand by Me, The Mosquito Coast▶ 22:29IMDb ↗Lb ↗

Demi Moore

5 mentions · Bill Simmons, Van Lathan · Known for Striptease, Indecent Proposal▶ 57:16IMDb ↗Lb ↗

Writers Referenced (5)

Aaron Sorkin

28 mentions · Bill Simmons, Amanda Dobbins, Van Lathan · Known for A Few Good Men▶ 4:06IMDb ↗Lb ↗

Shane Black

4 mentions · Bill Simmons, Amanda Dobbins · Known for Predator, The Nice Guys, Kiss Kiss Bang Bang▶ 1:21:59IMDb ↗Lb ↗

Andrew Cosby

1 mentions · Van Lathan▶ 44:03IMDb ↗Lb ↗

Roger Ebert

1 mentions · Bill Simmons▶ 23:56IMDb ↗Lb ↗

William Goldman

1 mentions · Bill Simmons · Known for Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid, All the President's Men, The Princess Bride▶ 1:28:01IMDb ↗Lb ↗

Cinematographers Referenced (1)

Loïc de Lame

1 mentions · Bill Simmons · Known for Lady Bird, While We're Young▶ 59:46IMDb ↗Lb ↗